Barroso also called for concerted action by European Union states to find alternative energy supplies if the "unacceptable and incredible" problem isn't resolved soon.

Barroso reiterated that EU members should use the €5 billion to finance energy interconnections within the EU member states.

The EU gas coordination group met Jan. 9 to identify helpful measures for countries suffering most from gas shortages, but concluded only inadequate short-term measures are available. Those measures include increased production from European countries, sharing larger withdrawals from storage, fuel switching, and limiting industrial consumption of gas. Even LNG would be of little help as terminals with spare capacity are not connected to those countries most in need of supply.